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Signs of reform have prompted Hillary Clinton to make a historic visit to the poorest nation in south-east Asia, writes Lindsay Murdoch.
Aung San Suu Kyi stood before almost a million people outside Rangoon's gold-encrusted Shwedagon pagoda and declared her support for a multi-party democracy, defying the military dictators who had turned Burma into an impoverished pariah state over three decades of brutal misrule.
It was August 26, 1988, and Suu Kyi was a delicate, pale 43-year-old mother of two who had been living comfortably with her British academic husband in Oxford. But the daughter of Aung San, the hero of Burma's independence in 1948, told the crowd she could not remain indifferent amid the political upheaval in her homeland.
''This national crisis could in fact be called the second struggle for national independence,'' she said to the assembled crowd that roared its approval.
Today, after suffering more than two decades of persecution, detention and denigration, and never having returned to Oxford, Suu Kyi will meet Hillary Clinton in what is the first visit to Burma by a United States secretary of state in 50 years.
The now 66-year-old pro-democracy icon and Nobel laureate is expected to urge Clinton to support - maybe even reward - a series of dramatic, although still tentative, reforms introduced by Burma's military-dominated civilian government since it took office in March.
The meeting also takes place as Suu Kyi prepares to re-enter mainstream politics and contest a byelection for a seat in national parliament.
Clinton's three-day visit will not only open reclusive Burma to intense international scrutiny but will also place the country at the centre of the competing regional interests of the US and China.
A series of reforms by Burma's President, Thein Sein, a former prime minister and general in a previous military junta, have caught most Burma-watchers by surprise.
So far, the government has suspended a controversial Chinese-backed hydro-electric dam project in northern Kachin State, saying the decision was to ''respect the will of the people''. It was one that stunned China, as 90 per cent of the electricity generated at the Myitsone dam was to go across the border to China and Chinese investors were pouring $US3.6 billion into the project.
This came amid a flurry of other changes, including the release of more than 6000 prisoners, the introduction of more liberal labour laws, less press and internet censorship and a toning down of government propaganda. Last week the parliament also approved a law allowing public protests, which had been banned.
The government has also reached out to former pro-democracy activists, including Suu Kyi, passing a law allowing her outlawed National League for Democracy party to register and contest elections. (The party won 1990 elections in a landslide but was never allowed to take power.)
The extraordinary pace of change takes place against the backdrop of the country's chilly relationship with China.
In late September a senior Burmese official wrote a newspaper article urging foreign countries to be patient with Thein Sein as he tried to resolve deeply entrenched political, economic and social problems while keeping at bay military hardliners unhappy with the reform program.
''If Western countries continue to keep sanctions and even impose more it will only force Burma closer to China,'' the official warned.
''We do not want our country to become a satellite state of the Chinese government. Western countries should not force us into a corner where we have no option but to increasingly reply on China.''
Years of diplomatic and economic sanctions by Western nations have left Burma under the influence of its giant neighbour. Chinese businessmen have developed strong networks with Burma's elite.
But tolerance of China's domination has been wearing thin for some years. In 2009, the last year for which official statistics are available, Chinese exports to Burma amounted to $US2.3 billion, while China imported a mere $US646 million worth of Burmese goods.
The Chinese have also plundered northern Burma of national resources such as timber, causing massive deforestation.
Meanwhile, Chinese migrant workers have flooded in. The population of northern cities such as Mandalay are estimated to be 40 per cent Chinese.
China's domination has also irked Burma's intensely patriotic military, which does not want to be the pawn or client state of any country. ''This is all about China,'' says Bertil Lintner, an expert on Burmese affairs.
''Relations between Burma and China are deteriorating rapidly, and they [Burma] need new allies,'' he says.
Nay Zin Latt, a political adviser to Thein Sein, says the President is seeking to reconcile with political opponents in order to expand the economy and encourage the West to reduce sanctions that have hurt the country's poor.
Two weeks ago the US President, Barack Obama, spoke to Suu Kyi for 20 minutes by telephone from Air Force One.
Suu Kyi told the President the change seemed to be real and Obama announced Clinton's visit the next day, saying ''after years of darkness we've seen flickers of progress'' in Burma.
The tipping point for Washington was the government's engagement with Suu Kyi, who for many years was referred to as ''The Lady'' by the military that despised her so much they could not utter her name.
Wherever Suu Kyi goes she is swamped by enthusiastic supporters and is expected to quickly become recognised as the opposition leader.
With the military-linked Union Solidarity and Development Party holding an absolute majority in parliament and 25 per cent of seats reserved for defence personnel, the voting power of Suu Kyi and her NLD colleagues will be limited. However, the military will know she holds enormous sway both inside and outside the country and they will need her backing for its reform process and its bid for broader international acceptance.
Clinton has said that during her visit she will press for greater progress on human rights and democracy, without offering any relaxation of economic sanctions that prohibit Americans and US companies from conducting most commercial transactions in the country.
''We're not ending sanctions. We are not making any abrupt changes. We have to do some more fact-finding; and that's part of my trip,'' she said.
During a meeting with Thein Sein in Burma's new capital Naypyidaw tomorrow, Clinton will raise US concerns about continuing ethnic conflicts in border areas where multiple armed groups are demanding autonomy.
Fighting between the Burmese army and the Kachin Independence Army, which broke out in June after a 17-year ceasefire, has displaced an estimated 30,000 people, says a report by the Oslo organisation Partners Relief & Development. It says many civilians have been killed, forced into slave labour or used as human shields. ''While the situation in lowland Burma is being interpreted as a major breakthrough, the situation for millions in the ethnic areas is worse than it's been in two decades,'' the organisation's Oddny Gumaer said.
Clinton is visiting a country of 55 million people which, in the early 20th century, was Asia's richest nation and a shining jewel in the British empire.
Today, after five decades of repressive military rule and economic vandalism, Burma is the poorest country in south-east Asia. Hillary Clinton need only take a stroll around Rangoon to see at first hand the need for change.
Read more: China nervous as Burma starts to look West
Aung San Suu Kyi stood before almost a million people outside Rangoon's gold-encrusted Shwedagon pagoda and declared her support for a multi-party democracy, defying the military dictators who had turned Burma into an impoverished pariah state over three decades of brutal misrule.
It was August 26, 1988, and Suu Kyi was a delicate, pale 43-year-old mother of two who had been living comfortably with her British academic husband in Oxford. But the daughter of Aung San, the hero of Burma's independence in 1948, told the crowd she could not remain indifferent amid the political upheaval in her homeland.
''This national crisis could in fact be called the second struggle for national independence,'' she said to the assembled crowd that roared its approval.
Today, after suffering more than two decades of persecution, detention and denigration, and never having returned to Oxford, Suu Kyi will meet Hillary Clinton in what is the first visit to Burma by a United States secretary of state in 50 years.
The now 66-year-old pro-democracy icon and Nobel laureate is expected to urge Clinton to support - maybe even reward - a series of dramatic, although still tentative, reforms introduced by Burma's military-dominated civilian government since it took office in March.
The meeting also takes place as Suu Kyi prepares to re-enter mainstream politics and contest a byelection for a seat in national parliament.
Clinton's three-day visit will not only open reclusive Burma to intense international scrutiny but will also place the country at the centre of the competing regional interests of the US and China.
A series of reforms by Burma's President, Thein Sein, a former prime minister and general in a previous military junta, have caught most Burma-watchers by surprise.
So far, the government has suspended a controversial Chinese-backed hydro-electric dam project in northern Kachin State, saying the decision was to ''respect the will of the people''. It was one that stunned China, as 90 per cent of the electricity generated at the Myitsone dam was to go across the border to China and Chinese investors were pouring $US3.6 billion into the project.
This came amid a flurry of other changes, including the release of more than 6000 prisoners, the introduction of more liberal labour laws, less press and internet censorship and a toning down of government propaganda. Last week the parliament also approved a law allowing public protests, which had been banned.
The government has also reached out to former pro-democracy activists, including Suu Kyi, passing a law allowing her outlawed National League for Democracy party to register and contest elections. (The party won 1990 elections in a landslide but was never allowed to take power.)
The extraordinary pace of change takes place against the backdrop of the country's chilly relationship with China.
In late September a senior Burmese official wrote a newspaper article urging foreign countries to be patient with Thein Sein as he tried to resolve deeply entrenched political, economic and social problems while keeping at bay military hardliners unhappy with the reform program.
''If Western countries continue to keep sanctions and even impose more it will only force Burma closer to China,'' the official warned.
''We do not want our country to become a satellite state of the Chinese government. Western countries should not force us into a corner where we have no option but to increasingly reply on China.''
Years of diplomatic and economic sanctions by Western nations have left Burma under the influence of its giant neighbour. Chinese businessmen have developed strong networks with Burma's elite.
But tolerance of China's domination has been wearing thin for some years. In 2009, the last year for which official statistics are available, Chinese exports to Burma amounted to $US2.3 billion, while China imported a mere $US646 million worth of Burmese goods.
The Chinese have also plundered northern Burma of national resources such as timber, causing massive deforestation.
Meanwhile, Chinese migrant workers have flooded in. The population of northern cities such as Mandalay are estimated to be 40 per cent Chinese.
China's domination has also irked Burma's intensely patriotic military, which does not want to be the pawn or client state of any country. ''This is all about China,'' says Bertil Lintner, an expert on Burmese affairs.
''Relations between Burma and China are deteriorating rapidly, and they [Burma] need new allies,'' he says.
Nay Zin Latt, a political adviser to Thein Sein, says the President is seeking to reconcile with political opponents in order to expand the economy and encourage the West to reduce sanctions that have hurt the country's poor.
Two weeks ago the US President, Barack Obama, spoke to Suu Kyi for 20 minutes by telephone from Air Force One.
Suu Kyi told the President the change seemed to be real and Obama announced Clinton's visit the next day, saying ''after years of darkness we've seen flickers of progress'' in Burma.
The tipping point for Washington was the government's engagement with Suu Kyi, who for many years was referred to as ''The Lady'' by the military that despised her so much they could not utter her name.
Wherever Suu Kyi goes she is swamped by enthusiastic supporters and is expected to quickly become recognised as the opposition leader.
With the military-linked Union Solidarity and Development Party holding an absolute majority in parliament and 25 per cent of seats reserved for defence personnel, the voting power of Suu Kyi and her NLD colleagues will be limited. However, the military will know she holds enormous sway both inside and outside the country and they will need her backing for its reform process and its bid for broader international acceptance.
Clinton has said that during her visit she will press for greater progress on human rights and democracy, without offering any relaxation of economic sanctions that prohibit Americans and US companies from conducting most commercial transactions in the country.
''We're not ending sanctions. We are not making any abrupt changes. We have to do some more fact-finding; and that's part of my trip,'' she said.
During a meeting with Thein Sein in Burma's new capital Naypyidaw tomorrow, Clinton will raise US concerns about continuing ethnic conflicts in border areas where multiple armed groups are demanding autonomy.
Fighting between the Burmese army and the Kachin Independence Army, which broke out in June after a 17-year ceasefire, has displaced an estimated 30,000 people, says a report by the Oslo organisation Partners Relief & Development. It says many civilians have been killed, forced into slave labour or used as human shields. ''While the situation in lowland Burma is being interpreted as a major breakthrough, the situation for millions in the ethnic areas is worse than it's been in two decades,'' the organisation's Oddny Gumaer said.
Clinton is visiting a country of 55 million people which, in the early 20th century, was Asia's richest nation and a shining jewel in the British empire.
Today, after five decades of repressive military rule and economic vandalism, Burma is the poorest country in south-east Asia. Hillary Clinton need only take a stroll around Rangoon to see at first hand the need for change.
Read more: China nervous as Burma starts to look West
